


Vos Mereo Esse Salvati

by battlecas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Hurt Dean Winchester, M/M, Mechanic Dean Winchester, Mentions of Cancer, Minor Character Death, Musician Castiel, Psychological Trauma, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-14
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-01-01 14:15:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1044913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/battlecas/pseuds/battlecas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas is the new kid at Lawrence High, living with his brothers Lucifer and Gabe after his parents kick him out.<br/>No one's ever really paid any attention to him, so he's surprised when people actually seem to take an interest - especially someone as gut wrenchingly perfect as Dean Winchester.<br/>Dean and Cas teeter on the edge of something Cas hopes is more than friendship for months before crash landing together. Everything is going well in Dean's books, and even better in Cas's; he's doing more art, learning the piano like he always wanted and can do everything his parents never allowed him to do.<br/>Dean is his best friend and everything that matters to him now, and that means that he'll always be there to pick up the pieces when things are broken everything's gone to hell and seems beyond repair. </p><p>"You deserve to be saved, Dean Winchester."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Story is unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine. Feel free to correct me, I'd be eternally grateful!

School had always been a bit of a drag for Dean Winchester. No matter how much he had tried to enjoy his classes, the work floated off the page like a mirage every time he looked down. His younger brother, Sam, however, was somewhat of a different case. He had always excelled in school, and had been a straight A student since elementary school. The kid was going to be a lawyer one day, no doubt about it. He’d had his eye set on that career path since he was only a few feet tall, and Dean knew there was nothing stopping his baby brother from achieving whatever he set out to do, but he still had the whole of high school to go before he set out into the real world. Dean himself was yet to fathom what career path he wanted to follow after he graduated from high school, but took relief in that he still had half his junior year and the entirety of senior year to throw together a plan in some form or other.  
At least he thought, anyway. The day before school broke up for Winter break, his home room teacher dropped the bombshell on him; colleges were looking for potential candidates way longer before he graduated than he expected, and that if he had any hope of being accepted into any college in the country he better have an acceptance essay well on its way to being done by time he went into senior year. Miss Barnes set them all homework over the holiday to make a rough decision of what they wanted to apply for at college, and to put together a rough plan of what they would put into their essay – including extracurricular activities in and out of school.  
  
Ever since school had broken up for Christmas, Dean had been ransacking his brain for any answer at all. Shop was good - it was his best class and unlike the other classes he was managing to pass, he found Shop interesting. Although he didn’t want to wind up spending the rest of his life carving up wood, no matter how much their teacher said he had a knack for the job. Back to the drawing board. Again.   
He didn’t take anything else that was worth pursuing any further, because in Dean’s opinion, it would be a waste of his time. On top of that, he didn’t do anything in or out of school that was worthy of putting on his acceptance essay, which left him at a complete blank of where to turn to. He had nothing.  
  
He thanked Bobby that he at least had a job to keep his mind off his future for now, which was looming over him like a storm cloud. Bobby was like family to the Winchester’s - he had been around ever since Dean could remember; taking him and Sam to baseball games and for ice cream in the park at least once a month, when their dad was working away. As soon as he had been given a part time mechanic job at Singer’s Auto Salvage, he became a definite favourite to have around the garage.  
He and Ash – who was in charge of everything admin related - got on like a house on fire ever since Dean’s first day of employment. Ash was in his year, and they shared a few classes. He looked like nothing but an AC/DC roadie with his dirty blonde hair messed up and tight light-washed jeans, but the guy was a complete genius. He helped Dean pass computing with an A, and damn, if anyone could help Dean figure out the mystery of computer technology and coding, they were in his good books for life.

Dean’s childhood friend, Jo, also helped out at Singer’s working on cars since her and her mum, Ellen, moved into Bobby’s. Jo was a firecracker, and definitely not someone anyone wanted to get on the bad side of. She and Dean had been inseparable ever since they were toddlers, spending their time running around in the mud and lazing in paddling pools together and there was no one in the world he could trust more than Jo, with the exception of maybe his little brother.  
Charlie - who helped out in admin - was in the year below him, but was in a few of his classes regardless, due to the fact that she was unbelievably smart and had turned into somewhat of Dean's best friend. Having two computer geniuses on shift at the same time was dangerous if any of the other employees got on their nerves, so they all made a conscious effort to steer clear when either of them was working, or happened to have anything less than a chirpy demeanour. Charlie was rarely ever less than peppy and could be quite a handful at times, but Dean couldn’t help but love her; she was like the little sister he never wanted.  
Kevin was the last kid in Lawrence High that Bobby allowed to work at Singer’s Auto Salvage under his idea that ‘if we get any more of you kids in here it’s gonna be a darned youth centre.’ Kevin wasn’t around that often, but he never failed to cover for anyone or help out during busier days. He was reliable, and Dean couldn’t fault that. Kevin was quiet at first, but as he got to know everyone a bit better he loosened up and began to join the constant fun thrown from one to another during their shifts.  
  
For the first time in a long time, Dean couldn’t even complain about his home life. His dad, John, was finally on the road to recovery from a long and damaging bout of alcoholism, with the support of his family and Topeka rehab services to help him. Mary was baking more than she had for years and it was raising the spirits of the whole family, and Dean was certainly not complaining. The only thing left to do was figure out what he was going to do once he left the family home and moved away to college, if he ever decided where he was going.

* * *

 

 Cas’s life was lain out somewhat differently. He had been attending a religion prioritising private school since he was five years old, under the strict instruction of his parents, Naomi and Zachariah. He had grown up leaning and living the ways of the bible, memorising everything and more than he was required to and praying every night before bed. He excelled in all of his classes and already had his plans for after high school set in stone. After graduating, he would be going to Kansas State University to do a religious studies degree before taking over his parents’ current job of running the churches within the local vicinity. Cas never questioned, nor went against any of his parents’ decisions or rules, and acted as a model son, until the first and only outburst in the Novak household.  
  
Gabe – Cas’s little brother - was more adventurous than him, and took it upon himself to make up for Cas’s lack of rebellion. He went out with his few friends almost every night once he had Charlied out his thorough checks that both his parents were in bed and asleep, and he skipped bible group as often as he could get away with; instead he spent his time at the vintage sweet shop shovelling candy down his gullet. He was never found out of course. Cas knew he could trust his younger sibling more than anyone else he knew (although he was very limited for choice), and despite their personalities clashing at the worst of times, they got on reasonably well. They didn’t talk too often anyway - mostly just during meal times when they were attempting to avoid tense conversation with their parents which was undeniably the best option for everyone in the family.  
  
There wasn’t much else to Cas’s life. He didn’t have any friends in or outside of school. He tended to keep his distance from the other students and consciously avoided any clubs or groups in the evenings or during the weekend, so there wasn’t much of a chance to make friends at all. Instead he spent his time going for long runs through the local park and around the lake every day after school to relieve the stress of the day. Once he returned home, he would complete all his homework and bible studies before dinner and then spend the evening reading, drawing or something else of the sort. That was Cas’s routine, and it had been that way since he started high school. Despite the twinge of boredom he felt every so often, Cas liked the sense of comfort and security it gave him.  
  
When it came around to Thanksgiving that year, his older brother, Lucifer visited for dinner. Nothing at all that night, save for the food itself could have gone any worse. Lucifer was in an almost suspiciously good mood, a drastic change from his usual sulky demeanour. No longer than a few minutes after the family had said grace, and everyone had dished out their food, had Lucifer decided it was the prime opportunity to tell everyone his ‘good news’. Since he had finished his college course in religion earlier that year, he was moving to Lawrence to pursue an alternate career path, and not taking over work at the churches. Naomi and Zachariah tensed in their seats, the anger almost tangible in the air, and they both let out drawn out breaths to regain their composure. They calmly asked Lucifer what had led him astray, and attempted to persuade him back into following their plan, but as Lucifer continuously resisted, his parents’ fury rose. Their faces swelled up and Zachariah’s cheeks puffed big and red as he stifled his screams back. The table was trapped in an incurable awkward silence as Cas’s parents stared with deathly glares at his older brother, until he spoke up. All eyes were on him.  
  
“I think you should let Lucifer pursue the career he pleases - I mean... Well, you can’t keep us trapped here and make us do what you want forever.” The words slipped from between his lips before he had even begun to process what he was thinking. Everyone at the table gawked at him in complete disbelief; stared at the meek, lanky boy who had never spoken out of place in his life, and who no one ever thought capable to do so.   
His parents began shouting and screaming uncontrollably, neither directly at Lucifer or Cas, but yet they continued for what felt like hours on end. Cas did nothing but sit there, frozen in his place and silent while Zachariah’s face grew crimson with rage. Words started to roll of Cas’s tongue again, before he could think what he was saying, he only knew it was something to do with the fact they weren’t slaves.  The volume of the room echoed with the booming sound of raised voices until there was no room for air left, and everything faded into a blur.  
  
The next thing Cas heard, the only thing he could make out in the jumble of letters were two words that, never in his existence, did her ever consider he would hear.  
  
“GET. OUT,” Zachariah screamed, and pointed his finger to Cas, then to Lucifer after. Lucifer slammed his fist off the table and shouted back in Cas’s defence until he was stopped.  
  
“Stop, Lev, it’s alright. We’ll grant their wishes. Let’s go, I won’t be a minute.” He thrust himself away from the table and left to his room to pack his bag with a twisted expression on his face.  
Twenty minutes later Lucifer was helping Cas lug a suitcase and some boxes into his car while his mother letting tears roll down her cheek as the realisation of the evening’s events sunk in. Without saying their goodbyes, they got into the 1957 Cadillac in the driveway and plugged their seatbelts. As they were pulling out, Cas looked back to the door after he heard it slam loudly, to see Gabe struggle down the driveway with a camping rucksack and a large travel bag.  
  
“If you’re going then so am I, alright? There’s no way in hell you’re leaving me here with the spawn of the devil.” Cas knew Gabe had always despised their parents, and so didn’t say anything, but instead just nodded. He let Gabe into the back seat, and Lucifer sped down the road, the purr of the car filling the air.

 


	2. The New Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first day of term after the Christmas break, and Dean's morning routine is the same as always, until someone catches his eyes coming into homeroom.

At six o’clock on the dot that Monday morning, Dean Winchester’s alarm went off, blaring 'Heart and Soul' loud enough for the entire street to hear. After the initial shock of the noise jolting him awake, Dean rubbed his eyes open and reluctantly pushed the covers off his half clothed body. The cool air hit his skin and he hissed at the feeling before pushing himself off the bed to cross over the hall to the bathroom before his little brother could get in and hog it for at least the next hour. Closing the door behind him, he turned the hot water knob in the shower and let his hand linger under the stream of water until he was sure it was at a temperature that wouldn’t freeze him instantaneously when he got in. He pulled his pyjama bottoms and boxer briefs off, and the same as every day, managed to get them twisted around his ankles, almost managing to fall over in the process of wriggling them off.

“Son of a bitch, would you just come off already, useless piece of-” He trailed off as he tugged the elastic waistbands past his heels with far too much effort that should be needed for this time in the morning. Once he had managed to wrestle his clothes off, he stepped into the shower and slid the door closed, enclosing himself in the warm, steam filled cubicle and sighing with content as the warm water loosened off his muscles. Dean let himself savour the feeling for a few minutes before washing up and switching the shower off before the water ran cold, otherwise he’d have to deal with Sam complaining at him all the way to school about his morning trauma, and there was no way in hell he was up for that on the first day back.   
He pulled a towel off the rack and wrapped it tightly around his waist. Scooping his pyjamas off the floor, he slammed them into the laundry basket with a whistle before heading out of the bathroom and across the hall into the warm confinements of his bedroom.

Ten minutes passed, and Dean was dried and dressed, clad in a pair of old and faded blue jeans, and an Arctic Monkeys shirt with a plaid shirt draped over his shoulder as he pulled on a pair of red converse.  
Sam burst through the door while Dean was tying up his laces. Sam's hair fell to just below his jaw, and was sticking up at every angle. He removed the toothbrush that was sticking out his mouth, wiped the toothpaste from his mouth with the back of his hand and beamed at his brother.

“Hey, Dean. I need to pick up some books for mythology class before school starts today, so youneed to _hurry up_ , douche-wad.”

“Good morning to you too, _Sammy_ _,_ ” He called out with a scoff as Sam stumbled back over to the bathroom.

“Stop calling me Sammy, Dean _._ ”

Dean frowned at his name and hopped up from the side of his bed and made his way downstairs to the mouthwatering smell of crispy bacon and toaster waffles. He threw the plaid shirt onto the back of his chair as he slid onto it, and drummed his hands on the table as he waited eagerly for his breakfast to be passed over.

“Morning, Mom,” Dean hummed as Mary brought him over a hearty plate of waffles and bacon, and placed a small jug of maple syrup by his plate. She chirped a reply and kissed him on the cheek before pattering back over to the pan of bacon sizzling over the heat.

“Eat up, sweetie. Before your brother gets down here and eats your breakfast as well as his own.” Dean chortled around a huge mouthful of waffle, only just managing to muffle a reply.

“Ha! That little sneak wouldn't get anywhere near me before I've finished. This breakfast is _good,_ mom.”

* * *

Dean slammed the door of his black Impala behind him as he slid into the driver seat. Sam was already slumped in the passenger seat and fiddling with the iPod on the dock that Dean had installed last year. He finally settled on a study playlist that he'd made up a while ago, and let Bach resonate throughout the car. Dean slapped his hand away from the iPod dock, and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Dude, come on! If you're gonna put on music, at least attempt to choose something decent, alright?” Sam rolled his eyes at his brother and slumped down further in his seat as Dean flicked through the music library before he stopped on The Neighbourhood, and turned up the sound knob until the music rang through his ears.   
The ride to school was uneventful at the most; Sam was immersed in a book that was big enough to kill someone and contained the entire works of Shakespeare. Dean franticly screamed out the lyrics to his favourite songs as they cruised along a long stretch of road into the centre of town.

Once they arrived at school, Dean reversed into his favourite parking spot at the back of the school parking lot and shut off the engine. He pushed open the door, stepping out into the mild warmth of the sunlight, and pocketed his keys after slinging his bag over his shoulder and locking the car. He sauntered across the parking lot to the pavement in front of Lawrence High, Sam half running to keep up with his long strides.   
The brothers split up inside the front door as Dean pointed his younger sibling in the direction of the library before heading to home room to catch up with his friends.

He hurried down the busy corridor, slipping past the groups of people gathered around lockers and hanging around door entrances before he reached his turn-off. His eyes searched out his friends at the back of the classroom as he entered, and he waved up to them. He bound up the steps and wriggled himself into the small circle of people, between Charlie and Ash, and dropped his bag from his shoulder onto the laminate table.

“Morning, assholes,” Dean greeted, his voice light, and a playful smile gracing his lips. The others muttered a healthy portion of snide remarks back at him, and the room echoed with laughter.

The first bell of the day rang and clattering and the squeaking of shoes could be heard from the halls as everyone rushed to their home room, struggling to handle the pile of books and folders hitched under their arms.   
Dean mindlessly watched the passers by and the slow trickle of people filtering into the room as idle chatter passed among the group. Not much had changed over the holidays apart from how bare the walls looked now the Christmas decorations had been taken down. There was nothing Dean found worthy of comment as people trudged through the door – the people were the same as they were every day, with the same sour demeanour that possessed them last term in place. He turned back to his friends, but continued to glance at the door every few seconds out of habit and hope that something would just  _ change _ for once.

  
Minutes dragged on without anything of interest happening within Dean's view of the school. The last crowd was shoving through the door; people he had seen for years passing in and out of the door, but had never talked to. Dean did a double take as someone stood out from the group, someone he had never noticed before. He was hunched up and caught in the tightly packed group – there must have been a transfer over the Winter break. He looked painfully uncomfortable being boxed in by his fellow students; his brows were knitted together and his lips pressed into a thin line as he shuffled over the threshold of the door. Once in the classroom, the boy peered up and scoured the room for a place to sit, and he slowly made his way up to the back of the class where there were a few vacant seats in the very back row. 

Dean continued to stare at the new kid, unable to tear his eyes away - even though he was aware he probably looked like some sort of stalker – and his head lay cocked to the side as his eyes panned over his attire. He wore a pair of black skinny jeans, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a powder blue sweater vest pulled over the top of it, the colour perfectly complimenting that of his eyes. He had a tan bomber jacket tucked under one arm, and a few folders wedged under the other., with stray papers sticking out the sides. 

“Jeez,” Dean muttered under his breath. “Hasn't that guy ever heard of a locker?”

“Hm?” Charlie swivelled herself around to find out what Dean was whispering to his self about, and quickly followed his gaze. She found her eyes planted on a dark boy who was now seated a row behind them in the middle column of tables. “Oh, right! That guy! Yeah, his name's Castiel Novak. He's new here – transferred from a few states over. He seems.. Dreamy.” Dean raised his eyebrows as he turned to look at his friend as she spoke, still taken by surprise that she seemed to know everything about everyone.

“Dude, seriously. How? He's not even attended the school for an hour and you know about more about the guy that he probably does. Jesus, Charlie.”

“Shut your pie hole, Winchester. Anyway, we ought to talk to him or something. Maybe see if he swings your way, you look like you just saw an angel, seriously, man. You gotta quit with the smitten-ness.”

“Yeah, whatever. So not true though.”

“Sure. You're the worst liar I know, Winchester. I don't know why you still try.”

Dean and Charlie sidled out from behind their table and waved off Ash and Jo when they finally looked up to see what the happenings were. They stepped up to the next row and placed themselves at each side of Cas's desk. Charlie lightly banged her fist off the desk and Cas startled, his eyes widening in shock.

“Oh, um... Hello. Can I help you?” Cas questioned tentatively, his voice quiet and soft, but slightly gravelly.

“Uh, nah! No, we're just here to meet the new kid. Everything's been pretty much the same around here for a while, so we thought we ought to acquaintance ourselves with you, y'know, kid? You're Cas, right?” Charlie rambled, a warm smile reaching her eyes. Cas's mouth turned up at the corners, as he felt surprised and simultaneously amused by this pair's interest in him. Nobody had ever taken interest in him before, so the day was already going better that he imagined.

“Yes. That's me. The new kid. Nice to meet you-” Cas's voice trailed off as he realised he hadn't caught the names of his new acquaintances.

  
“Oh, sorry, dude! I'm Charlie Bradbury. This here is Dean Winchester.” Charlie nudged Dean's shoulder, urging him to do something other than stare blankly in Cas's direction. Straightening up, he raised his hand a little in a feeble attempt to greet Cas, and cleared his throat.

“Hey. So, transferred to Lawrence High, huh? Well – good luck, kiddo. It's a bit of a drag here, generally, but you get used to it I guess. What've you got first today?” Charlie smirked at him, letting him know that he had no chance of letting this one go. There was no was she was giving up yet.

Cas pulled out a crumpled timetable from his jacket pocket and smoothed it out with the palm of calloused hands before directing his eyes to the top left corner of the page.

“Ah, I have English. At least it's a class I like; literature is... fascinating, I think.” Cas cocked his head back and darted his tongue out to wet his lips as he considered the comment he had made before nodding and turning his attention back to the two in front of him.

“Sweet! Same as me and Dean-o here. Why don't you join our table, there's a free seat. We could get to know you a bit or something like that.”

“Yes. I think I'd like that. This is new to me – being new. I went to the same school for the past ten years. I never expected to make friends so quickly.” Cas smiled, wide and genuine at the thought of finally having friends, especially Charlie and Dean. Charlie seemed so... Nice – the kind of person who could always keep the atmosphere light hearted, but be there when you needed her. And Dean. Dean Winchester, the awkward one who stood to the side with freckles dusted across his face and deep green eyes staring at him with a sense of awe, and a warm and comfortable feeling smile. He was the most gorgeous person Cas had ever seen.

_Damnit,_ he thought.  _Cut it out Novak. Right now. Don't even think about it._

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean finds Cas' lunchtime hideaway in the library and asks him to see a movie with him and Charlie after school, and tries to discourage her idea that he has a crush on Cas as she continues to heckle him about it. Of course, when is Charlie ever wrong?

Within a week, Cas had settled in reasonably well, unquestionably more so than he had anticipated. He followed Charlie and Dean around from class to class -just to be on the safe side to make sure that he wouldn't get lost in some creepy corridor - and opted out of the cafeteria scene at lunch. He usually spent his time tucked away in a corner of the library, his nose in the works of contemporary playwrights. Cas couldn't help but be in complete awe of the way the plays were worded with precision and delicacy, but felt so natural rolling of his tongue, and he probably spent too much of his time memorising monologues from his favourite pieces.

Other times he would pull out his sketchbook and a small array of pencils, and sat with his brow furrowed, chewing on his lip while he let scribbles and lines fill the page until he pulled together something decent. For the past two days, the subject of Cas's sketches had been Dean Winchester; two white pages filled with tones of grey in the form of his face or midsection - with a few drawings taking special appreciation of the constellations of his freckles. They mapped out his expressions and posture, taking note of all the little things. He liked Dean. A _s if that wasn't obvious already,_ Cas thought, the voice in his head mocking . Dean was sweet although he had a crude sense of humour, and was possibly one of the biggest dorks Cas had come across in his lifetime. Well - excluding Charlie. The two of them never shut up about comics and films for more than ten seconds.

The bell had just rung for the start of lunchtime on Cas's second Tuesday at Lawrence High, and he hurried out of the classroom, moving in a serpentine like formation around the pupils clogging up the corridors. He made his way around to the side of the gym hall to the quieter set of steps leading up to the library and climbed them, already opening his bag to grab his sketchbook. He pushed through the door at the top of the stairs and went over to the table squeezed at the back of the library between the wall and a ceiling high bookshelf. He slid back onto the table and propped his feet up on the chair before flipping his book open to a fresh page and drawing a pencil out of his pocket. He began sketching, pausing every now and then to take a bite out of his sandwich before returning his concentration to the drawing at hand. People mulled around him; searching for a book on the shelf or flopping down at the next table to read or finish off some homework they should have done the night before. So of course Cas paid no attention to the patter of feet moving closer to him until someone reached up and ruffled his hair.

"Hey, man! What's up?" Cas spluttered and slammed his sketchbook shut, a pink flush rising up from under his collar and reaching the tips of his ears as he was caught completely off guard in what could have potentially been a very compromising situation.

"Uh... Hello, Dean. Hm? Oh, nothing. I'm just...Uh... Eating my lunch. I like it here, it's more peaceful than the cafeteria." Dean huffed and nodded in agreement, peering over at the book on Cas's lap.

"Yeah, I'll give you that alright. What you got there?" He questioned, peering further over to get a glimpse of the pages.

"Oh, it's nothing, really. Just my sketchbook. It's not very good."

"Ah, that's really cool, man. I didn't know you could draw! Mind if I take a look?" Cas shifted the book to the right a little, the blush on his face reddening.

"I'd rather you didn't, if that's okay. I'm not really.... Crazy over my art, it's nothing special."

"Yeah, sure, dude. It's no problem. Your work after all," Dean smiled at Cas widely before hopping onto the desk next to him.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, their gazes drifting off to bookshelves or watching their feet. The silence was odd to Cas, though not uncomfortable by any means, it was different, seeing Dean like this. He was calm, completely at ease, and Cas kicked himself to stop staring.

"So," Dean coughed out, snapping the two of them back to reality. "Charlie and I are heading down to the movies this evening to catch the new Robocop thing – it looks pretty sweet. You in?"

"Yes," Cas blurted out without any hesitation. Dean turned to face him and his grin grew, plastered across his face as he clapped Cas on the shoulder.

"Awesome! Well, the film's at seven, so we'll meet at quarter hour before outside the theatre. Cool?" Cas nodded again, taking note of the fact that Dean's hand was still resting on his shoulder, and he gulped, suddenly feeling slightly on edge about the evening.

The bell rang for the end of lunch and Cas slid off the table, shoving his things back into his bag as quickly as he could.

“Woah, slow down there, hotshot. It's only the bell - not a race gun." Dean laughed under his breath and slowly edged himself off the table after re-tying his laces. He grabbed Cas by the arm of his coat and tugged him out of the library, heading along the corridors towards physics. Cas let himself be dragged through the throngs of people, his mind too busy processing the whole lunchtime situation to control his own actions.

_Why did he have his hand on my shoulder? The cinema sounds interesting though, I don't really get out much. God damn it, I haven't done my English assignment for tomorrow, I better tell Cbarlie I can't go tonight, then. I can't let him down though, I already said yes, and I've never been out with friends before. Damn it, Novak, you idiot. Hotshot? Why did he call me hotshot, what does that even mean? Shut up, Cas._

* * *

They shuffled into the classroom after a few other students and headed to their table at the back of the classroom.

The lesson passed easily, the last two hours of school spent listening to the teacher ramble on about something to do with free body diagrams and force. Charlie and Dean passed each other notes to pass the time, occasionally sliding one over to Cas and making him snigger into his jotter.

**_Dean –_ _dude. Seriously. Do it._**

**_What?! Charlie, I don't have a crush on him. Jesus!_ **

**_You totally do, it's obvious._ **

**_No it's not. We've barely talked out of class._ **

**_Totally a crush. Plus, you invited him to the movies tonight._ **

**_Yeah, because he's our friend, asshole. We can't just leave him out._ **

**_And because you liiiiiiike him._ **

**_Shut up, Bradbury. Nothing there. I'm not asking him out. End of._ **

"You're lame, Dean Winchester," Charlie whispered across the table. She glared, throwing a silent threat at him, before she turned to grin at Cas.

"So, Cas, excited for the movie?"

Cas drummed his fingers on the desk, mouth turned up at the edges in a grin. "I guess so, yeah. I've never really done anything like this, it'll be fun."

Doors all along the corridor burst open and hundreds of students bustled into the corridors, making their way to the main entrance to leave this prison until tomorrow.

Dean waved goodbye to Cas and Dean just outside the grounds and her curly hair bounced as she ran off to the car park where her mum was waiting.

“Well, uhm. I'll see you later then?" Dean asked, rocking back and forwards on the balls of his feet, looking down at the ground.

"Oh... Yes. Quarter to seven, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Later, Cas!" Cas waved back to Dean as they turned to head home. Cas pushes his headphones on and flicked through his music library until he came across something that interested him. When he reached Levi's apartment twenty minutes later, he found that no one else was home, and walked straight to the kitchen to find something to eat. He scoured the cupboards until he found a few bits and pieces to throw together a decent sandwich, and retreated to his room with the packets balanced in his arms.

Bread laid out on top of his English homework, he put cheese, salami, lettuce and jalapeños in rows on one slice, and then squished everything down with the other slice. He swept all the packets onto the floor and picked up his sandwich, took a bite and hummed in content. He sorted out his English work with his sandwich still in hand, and read through the assignment again before picking up his pen an scribbling down notes on the text.

Cas makes another sandwich after he finishes his first, just to be sure that he's not hungry, and then continued to scrawl down his essay as he chews.

He worked for hours, losing track of time and completely zoning out, until he heard someone come through the door.

  
"Hello?" He called out.

"Hey, Cas. how you doing, big bro?" Gabe.

"Well, I'm behind on an English assignment for tomorrow, so I could be significantly better. I'm going to the movies at seven though, so I guess that will be good. How are you?"

"Oh shit, Maxxie, you better hurry up. It's half six, and the theatre's at least a twenty minute walk from here." Cas jumped off his bed, already throwing his uniform off and waddling over to his drawers with his trousers around his ankles.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," Cas mumbled as he wriggled up a pair of skinny jeans, rummaging through his t-shirt drawer with the other hand. He ended up pulling on an Metronomy shirt, and quickly pulled his feet into a pair of sneakers before scribbling a note for Levi and shouting bye to Gabriel, picking up his wallet and then sprinting out of the door.

He kept up a steady pace as he weaved through streets to get to the high street where the cinema was located, checking the time on his phone every five seconds. 6:42. Cas picked up the pace and broke into a sprint, still a good ten minute walk from his destination.

He came to a sharp halt outside the cinema, right in front of Charlie and Dean, who were excitedly chattering about the movie. Cas was panting heavily and had sweat running down his face, his as red as a beetroot.

"Damn, Cas. How far did you run?" Dean laughed as he looked him up and down.

"Far," Cas huffed out, bending down and resting his hands on his knees.

"Woah, you okay there, buddy?" Cas looked up at the two who were now leaning over him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just not.... Athletic."

"I get that, dude! Come on, we want to get good seats!" Charlie grabbed their wrists and pulled them through the doors behind her, and over to the counter to buy their tickets.

* * *

Five minutes before the movie started, the three were in their seats - up at the back in the middle of the row, with Charlie smirking at how she managed to shove Cas between herself and Dean. Dean leant over Cas to mutter to Charlie before the film began, and she giggles hysterically as she watched Cas's face as Dean moved further across his lap.

"Dean, I swear to  _ G _ _ od _ I will murder you for this if you so much as try _ anythin _ g.”

"All right, big boy. Don't get your panties in a twist. Now shut up, the movie's starting now. Oh, and by the way – you might want to sit up. I think you're embarrassing your little crush there.”

Dean turned his head up to look at Cas, who was staring straight ahead at the screen, his eyes wide and lump appearing in his throat as he swallowed. Dean lifted himself up and leaned back in his seat, smoothing the front of his shirt out and apologising quickly to Cas, giving him a soft punch on the shoulder.

“Enjoy the film, happy meal.”

* * *

They emerged from the screen room two hours later, talking in raised voiced and giggling as they discussed the film.

“Dude, that was awesome! Way better than the original, right?” Charlie exclaimed, throwing her arms up into the air.

“I haven't seen the original, but I have to admit that I did enjoy that. Thank you very much for inviting me.” Cas smiled warmly as he spoke, and Charlie grinned at Dean like she knew something he didn't, and he decides to avoid eye contact with her at the moment.

“Yeah, don't worry about it, Cas. I'm glad you came!”

They pushed themselves out the doors and into the cool night air, and Dean and Charlie made their way over to the Impala, Cas trailing behind as he got ready to head off.

“So, Cas. How you planning on getting home?” Charlie enquired, looking sweetly at him.

“I'm just walking back, it's not too far.”

“Well, we could always give you a ride back, if you want. I'm dropping Dean off your way anyway,” Dean suggested, kicking Charlie in the foot as she nudged him.

“It would be much less troublesome than navigating my way back in the dark. That's very kind of you, Dean. Thank you.” Cas shuffles his feet and cards his fingers through his hair as the three of them stand in silence for a few moments, before Charlie speeds along the awkwardness.

“Alright then, let's go! I have a curfew to stick to here.” They climb into the Impala – Charlie in the back and Cas riding shotgun next to Dean.

“Okay, so where d'you stay, Cas?”

“ I don't know the street name, sorry... But it's the apartment building just opposite the supermarket. Do you know of it?”

“Sure do! I used to work there for a little bit. We'll drop you off first then, Charlie's place is just a little further along.”

The car journey was fairly quiet, only a few passing comments dropped every couple of minutes until they pulled up outside Cas's building.

“Well, here we are, then!”

Thank you, Dean. Thank you both – I had a nice evening. I'll see you in school tomorrow morning.” Cas climbed out of the car as they say their goodbyes to him, and Dean stay parked, watching as Cas makes his way over to the building. He waves from the door before slipping inside, and Charlie waves back as Dean salutes before pulling out of the building's car park and makes his way to Charlie's house.

“Seriously, Winchester? No crush, my ass.”

“Shut up, Bradbury. I'm still gonna kick your ass in League tonight.”

 


	4. Update

Hey guys!

First of all I'd like to apologise for the lack of updates on this fic recently!

I've been really busy with school, and will be up until the end of May. I've got my exams starting end of April and I've got a hell of a lot of work to finish plus studying to do. 

So it's just to let you guys know that I've not forgotten about this, or have given up on it. I will try to update this as regularly as possible, but there's no promise on how frequently I'll be able to get something written up, all I can do it try my best not to let it sit for too long. 

I should be able to get the next chapter up by next weekend though, so that's not too bad. 

Thank you guys so much for the kudos and bookmarks, it's awesome and means a lot - and it keeps me writing! 

Peace out bitches!

[if you want to contact me or something, idk, then my tumblr is battlecas.tumblr.com]


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry It's been so long since I updated this! I thought I should let you all know though, that I'm writing this fic as a novel with original characters and stuff now, so this might up a liiiiittle bit more AU than I intended it to be at first, but it'll still be pretty much the same. Anyway, enjoy!

On Monday morning, Cas had made his way to school in the rain walking alongside Gabe, who had barely stopped shouting the entire way to school except to inhale breath. Gabe had never been one to let things be, and the only thing Cas could concentrate on was the fact that he really wanted his little brother to just _shut up._ Eventually he did; only as they walked up to the main entrance of Lawrence High and had to go in opposite directions once they got inside. 

Cas stormed down the corridor and into his home room with a scowl, and he bustled up to the back of the classroom and pulled out the chair next to Dean before dropping on it like a dead weight. His hair and attire were in disarray and he had dark circles underlining his eyes. He was wired, his fingers furiously tapping on the tabletop, legs jittering underneath. 

His friends had abruptly stopped talking as he sat down, and stared at him with wide eyes.

“Woah. Cas, what's up? Are you okay?” Dean asked, looking scared as he interrogated his friend.

“Yeah, yeah. I'm okay, Dean. Don't worry about me – I had a late night, that's all.” Cas's voice came out like he had spent his entire night screaming at the top of his lungs.

“Good try, buddy. You look like hell. Let's go and get you sorted out, okay?” He turned to Charlie and muttered to her.

“Are you gonna stay here, or Sam you come and help me out or something. I got no idea what I'm doing here.” Dean nodded and edged out of her chair and past Drew and Jo, who were looking at Cas with sympathetic expressions. Dean slipped his arm around Cas's back and helped him to stand up again. Cas let himself be lead out of the classroom, his mind frazzled and cotton filled, and his eyes barely able to stay open.  
He slumped along the corridor behind Dean and Charlie as they headed in the direction of the disabled bathroom.

Dean unlocked the door by slotting a quarter in the groove of the twist lock and turned, and Charlie ushered Cas in while Dean shut the door behind them all. He relocked it from the inside and went over to the toilet where Cas was sitting on the lid. Charlie dampened a few pieces of tissue in the sink, and dabbed them across Cas's forehead and around his eyes, attempting to awaken him a bit more and cool him off. Dean stood beside him, and flattened bits of Cas's hair down with his hands, and idly twisted a few strands around his fingers.

“What happened, Cas? I mean, we've not known you for long, but this doesn't seem normal for you, man.” Cas let out a deep sigh, and closed in on himself, his entire body shivering and his teeth chattering.

“My parents called last night. I moved here because my parent's kicked me out. My brother, Levi, has an apartment here – where you dropped me off last week - and my brother Gabe and I moved in. Last night they called, and asked if I would come back, and just resume life as befo-” Cas choked on his words as a lump caught in his throat. He stared off between Dean and Charlie, being careful not to make eye contact as he felt tears well up and begin to spill over onto his cheeks.

“I can't. I can't, okay?! I can't go back there a-and... Live like that any more. I don't want to run their god damned churches. And now... Now they're not going to pay for my education; I don't know if I can't go to college any more and I'm stuck. I don't have anything else. No job or income or anything.” Cas let his head fall forward and sink into Dean's stomach, his tears staining the grey shirt.

Dean glanced sideways at Charlie, unsure of what to do. Charlie raised her eyebrows, urging for him to do something. She lifted her arm in front of her and made a patting gesture, then pointed at Cas, signalling Dean to do the same.

Dean slowly raised his arm and tentatively rested it on the back of his head, and then put the other on the top of his back, moving his hand in small circular motions.  
Cas gradually stopped crying as Dean continued to move his hand across his back, the sobs racking his body less with each breath.

Charlie walked over to the sink and dampened another piece of tissue, and carried it over to Dean along with a dry piece. Dean disentangled his hand from Cas's hair and took the pieces of tissue from her. He crouched down and put a finger under Cas's chin to lift his head up. He dabbed the damp tissue under his eyes and across his cheeks and chin, clearing the trail of salty tears. He handed the tissue back to Charlie and wiped over Cas's face again with the dry piece to clear him up.

“Hey, it's alright. Listen – a bunch of us work down at Singer's auto salvage, owned by a family friend of mine. He swears he wont take on any more 'youths' but he always does. Bunch of kids who'll work hours for small bucks, it's all good with him. I'll have a chat with him and I'm sure we'll work something out. One question though – would you prefer working cars or admin?” Dean smiled weakly at him and patted him softly on the back.

“A-admin, please. I don't really know anything about cars, I'm completely useless with them.” Cas ducked his head shyly, embarrassed at his lack of knowledge on cars, knowing that they were one of Dean's favourite things.

“Alright then, Cassie – just you hold on a few day and I'll have that all sorted for you.” Dean helped him up from the lid of the seat and pulled him into a hug. His heart pounded against his rib cage as Cas pressed against him and he could feel the warmth of his body through his clothes.

The three of them exited the bathroom a few minutes later, with Cas neatened up and looking slightly chirpier than earlier. The bell for first period resonated through the corridor just as they got back to home room. They doubled back after waiting for Ash and Jo at the door, and headed to shop class.  
As they entered the workshop, Cas's face froze. He turned full circle, looking at all the machinery and technical instruments around the room. Dean turned and chuckled at the taken aback look on his face.

“Time for you to learn a little something about craftsmanship, Novak.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

The week passed painfully slow. Every day was packed full with classes, not a spare moment to breathe in between the work load. In fourth period that Friday, Dean was sitting hunched over on a stool in chemistry. He stared blankly at a textbook lying on his table, his mind numb; all the information bounced off his brain as he tried to read the sea of words on the page. He was meant to be doing calculations on the partition coefficient, but nothing anyone had said made sense to him so far. He was never good at chemistry but he wasn't normally bad at it either. He just couldn't make any sense of the topic, and he didn't have any proper notes on it, which certainly didn't help his case. The lesson dragged on, with the seat next to him empty as Charlie was at one of her oddly frequent dentist appointments. Ash and Jo had decided to take physics instead so he didn't have them either. Cas was there, but he was sitting at the next table along with his head almost resting on the desk as he wrote and tapped numbers into his calculator.

Dean tore a corner of paper off the page he was working on and crumpled it into a ball. He popped it into his mouth, making a dissatisfied grunt at the taste. Once the paper ball was sufficiently wet, he lifted it out of his mouth between his finger and thumb and flicked it at Cas's cheek. The paper fell short by a few inches and instead hit the ground at his feet. Cas continued to work as Dean gave an exasperated sigh.  
He made up another paper ball, following the same routine, and flicked it at Cas. This time it hit him, not on the cheek and on the forehead instead, but it was good enough to catch his attention. He looked around in the direction the direction it had come from and his eyes stopped on Dean, who was smiling sheepishly at him.

“What's up?” Cas whispered. His voice was barely audible despite the deafening silence of the rest of the class.

“Well... I was wondering what you were doing today. Like, after school – since it's a Friday and all...”

“I'm not busy, no. I think that Levi's taking Gabe to paint ball tomorrow but it's not something I have opted to do, so I'll be at home all weekend.” Dean cleared his throat as it began to tighten. He felt nervous about asking Cas out, scared that he'd get the wrong idea since Dean did like him, but everything was jumbled in his mind. He almost wished that Cas would have said he was busy so that he wouldn't have the opportunity to choke, but it was too late now.

“I have some stuff to update you on, about the Auto Salvage and so I was thinking you'd maybe like to come into Topeka with me today. I need to pick up some stuff for Bobby – the owner of the Auto Salvage – and we could maybe grab some stuff while we're there; if you want?” Dean ducked his had and tried to hide his face from Cas – a blush spreading across his cheeks.  
Cas grinned and nodded his head once.

“Sure thing. It would be nice to get out.”

“Sweet,” Dean replied with a soft chuckle then turned back to his textbook. He took a deep breath, letting his lungs expand to it's full capacity, and let it out again in small waves – the tension in him being relieved through each exhale.

He spent his lunchtime in the library with Cas, sitting on the table in the corner with his back on the wall, munching on a sandwich as Cas sketched out a few figures. He wasn't quite sure exactly what he was drawing. Cas always hid his sketchbook from full view. There were rough outlines of side profiles with sharp features and light lines overlapping around darker ones. Every time Dean inched closer to him, Cas would dodge to the side, snatching his sketchbook away and tucking it around his side or behind his bag. Eventually, Dean accepted defeat although he was still curious about who the drawings were of; he was pretty sure it looked like someone he knew. Dean sat clicking his fingers and beating his fists off his thighs for a few minutes and sighed repeatedly to try and get Cas to look away from his drawings.

“Dude! I am actually here, you know. You could at least talk to me maybe like, every few years or something!” Cas dropped his pencil onto the desk beside him and whipped his head around to look at Dean. His face fell and his eyes widened to make him look like he had been kicked in the stomach.

“I... I. Sorry, Dean. I just get really immersed in my work sometimes. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you.” He placed his sketchbook to the side after closing over the front cover and swivelled himself around to face him, crossing his legs on the tabletop.

“Cas, no. No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I didn't know you got so into your work, man. I thought you were just ignoring me and so I... I wanted your attention.” Dean looked off to the bookshelves across the isle from them, making sure to avoid the reaction he'd drawn out of Cas. Cas didn't say anything and it put Dean on edge. He could feel his gaze permeating his skin and going right through him.  
Cas was unsure what to say. It sounded _weird._ He was only just getting used to having friends, but today felt like he was in a complete new life. He could feel himself becoming attached and he wasn't really sure what it meant or what it was. Today was the second time that Dean – anybody – had invited him out in a few weeks and he could feel the tips of his fingers buzz as a small flush rose to his face as he revelled in the fact that Dean wanted _his_ attention.

* * *

The bell rang for the end of school at 3:30pm, and Cas and Dean exited the school together and walked across the car park to Dean's Camaro. Sam came running over a few minutes later with a bunch of folders tucked under his arm and a goofy smile on his face. He wiped his hair out of his eyes and looked up at Cas.

“You're Cas, right?” Cas nodded and smiled in confirmation, happy that Sam knew who he was.

“Sweet. Dean's been talking about you loads. Although you're more... Human than I expected, going by how my brother described you.” Sam caught Dean's glare out of the corner of his eye and let out a spluttered laugh and running around to the passenger side of the car.

“I call shotgun!”

“Hold it right there, short bus. You can hop your ass straight into the back seat. Cas is gonna sit in the front – we can't have our guest riding in the back, and you can't drive, which leaves you to go in the back. In you go.” Cas giggled to himself as Sam huffed and slammed the back door behind him as he slid onto the leather bench.

They drove back to Cas's house first, and Sam and Dean sat in the car while Cas went inside to get changed, drop off his school stuff and pick up his wallet.  
Sam pushed forward of the back seat and hooked his arms over the back of the front bench. He flipped his hair out of his eyes again and turned to grin at Dean.

“Dude, you are in so deep.”

“Shut up, Sam. You were so close to being _dead_ back there. Lucky for you he's not that clued up on 'modern lingo' as he calls it. He's not going to know, okay? _Ever_.”

“Aw, come on, man. He totally likes you. Where are you guys going this afternoon, anyway?” Dean sighed and dropped his head down onto the steering wheel.

“We're going into Topeka. I'm taking to that book store you like. The art place too if we have time – he's into that sort of stuff. I need to pick up some stuff for Bobby too, so I thought I may as well make a day of it. Get Cas acquainted with the place too; might do him a bit of good to get out.”

“Oh my god.”

“Dude, what?” Sam opened his mouth to reply when Cas pulled the front door open and got back into the door. He was wearing a pair of dark blue, slim fit jeans with a buttoned up red and blue plaid shirt and black converse. Sam cocked his eyebrow at Dean, who was close to drooling all over his front as Cas smiled at him abashedly. He turned the key in the ignition and reversed out of his space.

The drive to Dean and Sam's house was devoid of speech, but filled with an educational introduction of Dean's music taste for Cas, who sat jittering his knee in time to the rhythm.  
When they arrived at the house, all three of them got out of the car and Sam recollected all his folders and his bag into his arms and waddled over to the door without being able to see exactly where he was going.

Their parents were still out at work to Cas's great relief; he wasn't sure he was quite ready for parental introductions yet. He really couldn't tell them much, considering that he hadn't even been into the city yet, or done much else apart from sit in his room and work or draw. He was rather impressed with Dean's house though, as he spun around slowly, taking in his surroundings. The colours on the walls were soft and light, and complimented the furniture in the kitchen and the living room.  
Sam dropped his stuff next to the sofa closest to the door in the living room and ran upstairs to his room. Dean kicked his shoes off, to which Cas followed as he stood awkwardly, not quite sure what to do.

“We'll be out of here pretty quickly, don't worry. I just need to get changed and grab my wall-”

“Don't worry about time. We have all day as far as you have told me, and I think your house is very nice. It feels... Welcoming.” Cas gave Dean a content smile and let him continue what he was saying.

“Thanks, man. That's really cool, I'm glad you like it. You can come up to my room while I get ready if you want, or you can make yourself at home in the living room. Either works for me.” Dean peeled his jacket off and hung it up on the coat rack in the corner of the hall before turning to begin up the stairs.

“I think I'll come with you, if that's alright.” Dean nodded and bound up the stairs two at a time, with Cas behind him walking with an almost sensible composure. He felt his heart skip as he showed Cas into his room. It was messy as he hadn't really calculated the possibility of his undeniably gorgeous friend accepting an offer to hang around in there while he got ready. Cas smoothed out a space on the bed and sat down, sinking into the soft mattress as he pulled his knees up to his chest.

“Okay, I'll be literally two minutes. I'm just gonna run to the bathroom and I'll be right back. Just hold up here.” Cas gave a slight shift of his head as Dean left the room and closed the door to the bathroom across the hall.  
He returned less than his estimated two minutes later with most of his clothes shed in the bathroom. Cas's eyes widened and his jaw barely fell short of dropping as he lay his eyes on a soft but sculpted stomach, with toned arms and slight bow legs. Dean smirked at Cas, something he wasn't sure if he interpreted correctly, or if he was misled by the fact that Dean was almost naked in front of him.

“Hey, dude,” muttered Dean as he stuck his head into his wardrobe to find something decent to wear.

“Uh, hi,” Cas replied, his eyes still glued to the freckled skin in front of him.

Dean eventually settled on his worn out jeans and a loose grey t-shirt and slung a deep purple hoodie over the top of it. He sauntered out of the room, grabbing Cas's arm and his wallet on the way on it and called to Sam that he was going out again.

“Bye, losers!” Sam shouted from his room as the other two slipped their shoes on. Dean left the door unlocked behind them and they hopped back into the car, smiling at each other briefly before Dean pulled out of the driveway and headed out of the town.

* * *

Cas stumbled as he was pulled along a path in Topeka, Dean leading him and egging him to keep his eyes closed. It's not like he had any idea where he was being taken either way since he had never been to the city before, but he enjoyed the fact the Dean seemed to enjoy his little games. They continued down the street like that for a good five minutes before Dean brought them both to a halt in front of a quaint little store. Cas looked up at the sign about the window, which read 'Book Affairs' on it. Before he had much time to study the typography and the words written on the sign, Dean pulled him inside. It smelled like the dust of old, leather-bound books and new books with their fresh, crisp cut paper.  
Cas wandered around ponderously, staring at the multitude of books lining the walls on their shelves, and more books stacked in piles on tables dotted around the store.

“So, what do you think?” Dean's face was spread in a wide grin as he looked as Cas hopefully.

“I love it! Thank you – thank you so much for bringing me here! I've never been anywhere like this. It's beautiful; there's so many books and it feels so homely and it's gorgeous. Thank you, Dean.” Cas rushed up to him and wrapped his arms around his neck, squeezing as hard as he could without the chance of injuring Dean.

“Dude, I'm so glad. I wasn't really sure if you would like it or not. It's one of Sam's favourite places, and I know that both of you are massive nerds, so I thought it would be a good bet at least. But, sweet! Anything you see that you fancy buying?”

Cas looked around for a good while, Dean sticking close to his side the entire, giving his opinions on the books Cas would pick up from time to time, until he had settled on two that he wanted. They made their way to the till and Cas pulled out his wallet, and handed two five dollar bills into a soft looking woman's hand after she packed the books away gently into a paper bag. She handed him back a dollar change which he shoved back into his wallet before taking the bag and making his way back out of the shop with Dean leading him.

They walked around the street for a while chatting about school and the books Cas had chosen and about his interest in art. Dean told him that he wanted to take him to one more shop before they went to get the parts Bobby needed for the Auto Salvage. They turned around and walked back the other way, bumping shoulders with every few steps.  
Dean stopped outside an art shop with the window packed full with paint sets and lines of pencils of every shade, sketchbooks of every size and a stack of blank canvases. Cas's face lit up like a Christmas tree as they walked through the door and the inside was stocked with even more than the window.

“You like it?” Dean asked, more confident than last time.

“Dean, it's amazing. Did you come here for me?” He nodded slowly and quickly diverted Cas to a set of sketchbooks and pencils next to the wall behind him so that he would have time to push down his blush without the watchful eye of Cas on him.  
It took him less time to pick out a sketchpad and a few drawing pens and pencils that he wanted, and they walked up to the small till at the back of the shop. Cas drew out his wallet again, and put a few small bills onto the till, which Dean scooped back up again and replaced with his own money.

He handed Cas's money back to him along with the bag full of art stuff as they exited the store. Cas took both hesitantly.

“You didn't have to do that,” he said.

“I know. But I wanted to. It's like my way of showing you that we're friends and stuff, y'know. I'm not very good at this type of thing.”

“Uh... I don't know what to say. Thank you, I guess. I've not had anything to compare with, but I'm pretty sure you're definitely highly ranking as far as friends go, Dean. Thank you, I'll be sure to put these to good use.” Dean replied to him with a pleased smile and walked in the direction of the mechanic to pick up the parts for Bobby.

They were only another twenty minutes before they made it back to Dean's car with the day's purchases. Dean hauled the parts into the boot of the car and Cas lay his bags on the back seat before they both took their places on the front bench.  
Dean starting the engine and reversed out of his space onto the main road, and drove off to the exit that took them back to Lawrence.

The drive was chatty and light hearted, Dean joking around with Cas and teaching him about pop culture and 'modern lingo' until Cas was convinced he knew enough to get by.  
They had arrived at Cas's apartment by eight o'clock, and he grabbed his bags from the back of the car. He leaned back into the front and gave Dean a quick hug before shutting the car door and jogging over to the front door of the apartment and letting himself in after a quick wave to Dean.  
Another fifteen minutes later, Dean had arrived home and he shut his car in the garage for the night. He let himself into the house and gave both his parents a hug before sprinting up to his room and shutting the door behind him.  
He collapsed on his bed and let his arms flop over his face as he sighed loudly with an disbelieving smirk on his face at the events of his day, letting himself drift in and out of a dreamlike state before he stripped and rolled under the covers to drop off to sleep with the relieving feeling of a Saturday ahead.

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash decided to have a party, Charlie finds a new love interest, and Cas manages to spend two nights with Dean

Ash walked into school that morning with a smirk on his face despite his clothes and hair being drenched by what must have been the rainiest Wednesday morning he had experienced in his lifetime. He bounced down the corridor and in to Ms. Barnes classroom to meet his friends. He bound up the wooden steps and slid across the table behind Jo to get to his seat. He sat down and shifted his gaze to Jo, Charlie, Dean and Cas in turn. No one said anything for a few minutes as they all exchanged confused glances concerning the new person that seemed to be in Ash’s body. Meanwhile Ash sat bouncing his leg under the table, making his entire body shake. His smirk had blown into a full grin as he waited for somebody to say something, but not saying anything himself with the idea that it would create a tense atmosphere to reveal his news.  
He waited a few more minutes, shuffling excitedly until he sighed and slumped in his chair when he got tired of holding back any more.

“Seriously, guys. Come on, I’ve got some awesome news, try and figure it out.”

“You got a new guitar?” Charlie suggested. Ash shook his head violently and the group fell silent again as everybody thought about plausible suggestions.

“You’re getting a new computer for your birthday?” Dean asked, and then whispered, “ _not like you got one less than a year ago or anything.”_

“Wrong answer, Winchester.” Ash gave up letting them guess after five minutes of increasingly ridiculous answers.

“Yeah, okay, well you’re all wrong. The  _ right  _ answer is.... Drum roll please…. I’m having a party this weekend. My parents are going out of town for the night, and they said they didn’t mind as long as I tidied up afterwards, so get your party groove on.”

“Dude, seriously? _Party groove?_ ” Dean chided, although he still had an amused grin on his face. Ash shrugged his shoulders and took a breath before speaking again.

“Right. So I'm gonna need you guys to help me set up on Saturday afternoon – I'm gonna ask Ty too. Everybody else – I just put an invite up on Facebook – will start arriving around seven thirty to eight. That's about it I think. Oh! You'll have to bring your own drink though, I ain't buying y'all nothin'.”

* * *

The next two days dragged past as everyone waited in anticipation for the day of the party to arrive. It had been at least six months since the last one, and they had all been praying for someone to have a party for the past while, so this was a blessing. Cas was the only one who wasn't completely excited for Ash's party. He had never been in one building cramped with people save for Church and school, but this was different. He'd never seen anyone drunk before, never mind a whole throng of binging teenagers enclosed in a very small space for the sheer amount of them.

Every time Dean or Charlie brought the party up with him, he would reply with short and blunt answers, although neither of them seemed to take any notice of it.

It continued on until the night before the party, by which time everyone was extremely antsy. Dean spent the evening pacing around his room and stopping every few minutes only to answer any messages his friends had sent. Cas had been messaging him incessantly for the past hour asking questions about the party. He wanted to know when people were going to begin arriving, and what time it ended at; how many people were there going to be and if he had met them all before; would there be a lot of alcohol?   
Dean had become more agitated as he replied to these queries one by one, as, not being the party host, he didn't really have much of an idea about any of them.

After about half an hour of silence Dean's phone vibrated from the bed and the picture of Cas that he'd taken at the restaurant appeared on the screen. He picked it up and slid his finger across the answer tab. Dean put the call onto speaker and put the phone down on the desk. Before Cas had the chance to say anything, he spoke out.

“Listen, Cas, I don't really know any of this stuff, okay? All I know is we go to Ash's place tomorrow around three o'clock, and help him set up, whatever that means.”

“Dean, I don't know what to do. I've never been to a party before – the last time I was at anything like a 'party' was Gabe's 6th birthday and all there was was a ball pit in Church that Sunday. I don't think that counts though. I'm scared.” Dean rubbed his hand over his face and sighed deeply, unsure of what exactly he was expected to do.

“Look, man. I don't know what to do here. I mean, you don't need to go if you don't want to – it would be awesome if you did go, but don't feel obliged to or anything. Parties are meant to be fun, dude, so if you feel like you'll just be scared then it might not be worth it, y'know.”

“I want to go. I really do, I'm just - I'm scared about it. I'm not sure what to do, I don't want to miss out, Dean.”

“Okay, right, I've got an idea, and you don't have to agree because sometimes I can get a little..... Inebriated... At parties. But you could just stick with me – I'll introduce you to people, and I'll take care of you... Or something – although if you want to break off then don't worry about it, that's cool. How does that sound?” Dean could almost hear Cas's smile through the phone when he replied.

“That sounds very good. Thank you, Dean. I really appreciate what you're doing for me. You're my best friend, I hope it's okay to say that....” Cas spoke softly, embarrassed at the admission he had made. Dean chuckled once, and picked his phone of and lifted it to his ear after taking it off speaker.

“Yeah. Jeez, man. Yeah, that's really cool. I mean, I know we've not known each other for that long really, but you're definitely one of the best friends I've had.” Both sides were quiet for a while, both suitably shocked, although pleased. Dean was the first to speak again.

“Hey, Cas. Do you fancy staying over tonight? I'd be picking you up only a few hours after I get up tomorrow anyway, and we're both going to the same place, so it seems reasonable I think.”

“....Um, sure. I do not see why it should be a problem. I'll pack a bag now and walk over if you'd like.”

“Hell, no! There's no way I'm letting you walk all the way across town this late. Pack your stuff, including whatever you're wearing for the party, and I'll come and pick you up, alright? 'walk over' Pfft.”

Dean hung up after they had said goodbye, and he shoved his phone into his pocket. He slipped out of his room and walked down the stairs, taking each step slowly so as not to risk waking anyone. When he reached the bottom of the staircase a good deal of time later, he pulled on his converse and grabbed his keys from the rack. 

Once successfully out of the house, he unlocked his car and stiffly opened the left side front door. He slumped into the driver seat and closed the door behind him, his motions again slow and stiff as he took care not to make any noise that would wake his parents.

He kept the music off while he drove to Cas's place, worried that he would be caught despite already being at least ten minutes away from his house.

Cas was already waiting for him outside when he arrived in the block car park. He jogged over to the car and got in next to Dean. His hair was mussed up, and he looked out of breath, his cheeks flushed pink, and clothes slightly askew. Dean looked him over a few times.

“What've you been up to? Looks like you've been... Busy.” There was a tone of jealousy in Dean's voice, though he wasn't sure exactly why. Cas didn't know anyone in the town apart from Dean and his friends, so he had nothing to be jealous of. _Stupid,_ he thought.

“I just got dressed, is all. And then I ran down the stairs, there's a few flights of them, and I'm not exactly what you would call fit. Anyway, thank you for letting me stay tonight, I've never stayed at somebody else's house before, I'm looking forward to it! I hope you don't think that's odd.”

“Not at all, dude! It's pretty cool actually, it's like I'm taking your.... Sleepover virginity or something.” Dean shifted his eyes around the car, unable to look at Cas after saying that. _What the hell are you thinking, you jerk. He's gonna think you're a creep. Just shut up, Dean._ Cas huffed out a laugh, and then another, and fell into a short burst of hysterics. Dean laughed with him, unable to help himself. _You're fucking lucky he found that funny_ , he thought to himself before starting the engine again.

They drove back with the music still of, but light hearted conversation passed between them, keeping any awkward silence at bay.

When they arrived back at Dean's house, his bedroom light had been switched on, and Dean groaned. They got out of the car, and Dean locked it after Cas had dragged his bag out. They crept back into the house, leaving their shoes in the hall. They tiptoed up the steps and crossed right into Dean's room, where, just as Dean had thought, his little brother was sitting on the bed.

“What do you want, Sam?” Dean threw off his hoodie and let it fall to the floor by his feet. Cas stood next to him awkwardly, not sure what to do. He shrugged the tan bomber jacket off his shoulders, letting it slip off inch by inch as though he was trying to keep it a secret. Dean and Sam were staring at each other, lips pressed into tight lines and eyes unblinking and straining.

“Shit!” Sam hissed as he blinked and snapped his head to the side.

“Ha! Loser,” Dean taunted as he walked forward and pulled his little brother up by his forearms off his bed. “Scram, nerd. You should be sleeping or something by now, shouldn’t you?” Dean continued to tease him as he slammed his back on the mattress and put the heels of his feet on the wall behind the head of the bed.

“Shut up, loser-face,” Sam said as he turned away from Dean and got ready to leave. “Oh, and don’t embarrass yourself too much in front of your boyfriend,” he smirked as he crept out the room, sniggering under his breath.  Dean laughed uneasily and turned to look at Cas with a shaky smile.

“Uh, don’t listen to him. He’s just an annoying little brother, you get it, man.” Cas nodded his head almost urgently, trying to shake the blush off his cheeks and the idea of being with Dean out of his head as  _quickly as possible._ He looked around Dean's room warily despite the fact that he had been here a couple of times before. "Are you gonna stand there all night, or are you gonna get your pjs on or something?" Cas didn't reply and opted to once again nod his head before setting down his bag on the carpeted floor and crouching down to unzip it. He pulled out a pair of deep red pyjama bottoms from under the mound of clothes for the next day, and a crumpled t-shirt followed.

"Nice shirt - I didn't peg you for the kind of guy who liked hard rock, but ya' learn something new every day!" Dean sat up on his bed and crossed his legs, letting his elbows rest on his thighs. Cas looked down at the shirt and a smiled crinkled his face.

"Oh, I don't really. I find it too... Loud. I don't think that it is bad, it's simply not my preferred genre of music. However I do quite enjoy the music that you have introduced me to over the past few weeks. This t-shirt belongs to my brother, Levi. He left it at home when he moved away to come here after he finished college. I found it, so I decided to keep it - I never saw him often, only once or twice a year. Obviously things are very different now, but I grew attached to it, so I kept it." Cas looked at the floor, his eyes glassy and his mouth turned down at the corners slightly.

"I think that's really cool, man. Y'know, honestly, you don't meet people like you real often. That's a compliment by the way, so chill." Dean laughed as Cas's face transitioned from an intense worried expression to sporting a beaming smile, and eventually he couldn't help but to laugh along.

The laughing dissipated quickly as Dean's eyes widened and he remembered that his parents were sleeping and he snapped his mouth shut, Cas following his actions. They sat for a few minutes pulling stupid and mock threatening faces at each other when Dean slapped his hand off his leg.

"Okay, time for pjs. Dude, I'm exhausted, we need to sleep. Like, soon." He rolled up from his bed and crossed over to the dresser and pulled open the second drawer down, where he grabbed out the first pair of pyjama bottoms his hands found. Cas rolled back onto the floor and stretched his legs out, stiff from the way he had been crouching for the last while. He shrugged his flannel shirt off his shoulders and folded it into a small square before stretching his arms out and placing it at the side of the room by the wall. He lay his pyjama shirt out in front of him, ready to put on and tugged the shirt he was already wearing up and over his head. He placed it on top of the flannel and then rolled back again to put the fresh shirt on for bed.

Dean stood at the opposite side of the room wiggling his jeans off his hips and down his legs, glancing at Cas every few seconds when he seemed to be otherwise occupied. Unbeknownst to Dean, when he was looking away, Cas was mimicking his actions, directing his eyes over to Dean more often that was probably appropriate.

 Both fully clothed again, they turned back to look at each other and smiled. Dean glanced over at his bed and then the floor, and his eyebrows knitted together in thought.

“Uh, we don't have a spare bed or anything set up, I.... Sorry. I'll crash on the floor and you can sleep in my bed, if you want?”

“It is okay. I'll sleep on the floor, I don't mind. I heard that it's good for your back anyway,” Cas said, his voice floating into the air like a wisp of a cloud. “Although I may need a blanket and pillow. I don't imagine the floor is very comfortable to sleep with your head on.” He chuckled softly, fatigue taking over as he felt himself close to nodding off.

“Well, duh. What do you think I am? Some sort of duvet _Scrooge?_ ”Dean swayed past Cas, left the room and turned right on the landing. Cas heard a door creak as it opened a little along the hallway. There was a muffled shuffling sound through the walls and a quiet thump was heard a second later. The door was closed again and Dean came back into the room a moment later carrying a double duvet under one arm and two pillows under the other. He dropped them next to Cas and then crouched down to sort them out into place.

“Right, okay,” Dean groaned as he hopped under the bed and pulled the covers up over him. “Time for bed. Night, Cas – we're getting up around eleven by the way, I hope that's alright for you?” Cas nodded and smiled, pulling the duvet up to his chin.

“Yeah, that sounds good to me. Good night, Dean.”

* * *

Dean and Cas met Charlie at the grocery store, where her mum dropped her off, only a few minutes away from Ash's street. They walked through the sliding doors and into the shop, heading straight to the food and drink aisles. They picked up a few bottles of soda, bags of potato chips and various party snacks, including pizza for everyone before heading back down the front of the shop to the checkouts. They split the cost between them and packed a few carrier bags with their purchases and left the store again, smiles on each of their faces as the reality of the party sank in. 

They cut across the car park and clambered over the small barrier onto the pavement. Walking quickly, they lugged the carrier bags to Ash's house, where the door lay open as they arrived. Ash stood holding it open from the inside, his legs twitching at the prospects the night ahead would bring.

“Heard y'all comin' from halfway down the street. God, have y'all never heard of civilisation before?” He joked, thumping them all lightly on the back as they crossed the threshold into the house. He directed his friends to the kitchen where they dumped the bags on the counter top and began unloading the goods from their bags.

“Yeah, I don't know what you're saying, douchewad. I can hear coming from a mile away, with how loud you play you're hippy music.” Charlie smirked and blew air over her fingertips which she had pointed into a makeshift gun. Ash side-eyed her with raised eyebrows and walked over to the last unmanned bag of goods on the counter.

* * *

 

Some ten minutes later, the bags were unpacked and the group were collapsed on the sofas in Ash's living room, legs draped over the arms of them and curled up around big, puffy cushions. It was still a few hours until people were due to begin arriving, and Jo couldn't make it until nine o'clock anyway, since her conditions of being allowed to even go to the party were that she worked until eight that evening. They sat in silence, Cas and Ash staring into space while Charlie mouthed and acted out hints for Dean and pointing as discreetly as possible to Cas. Dean was shaking his head at her, eyes wide with a Charlie-shut-up-Cas-is-right-there look. She eventually rolled her eyes exasperatedly and decided to try a different tactic.

“So, boys. How about a movie in the meantime? We've got a good few hours to wait, yet.” Charlie had pencil rolled off her space on the sofa and pushed herself up to her feet, and was now bouncing on her toes around the room, swinging her hips around in mock seductiveness. “Personally, I suggest something _really_ boring.” She directed a burning look at Dean, who gave her I'm-not-telling-him-anything look back. She opened her mouth to give another suggestion for a movie, but Ash got there first.

“Yo, what about 'The Winter Soldier'?”

“I've never seen that movie, but Dean talks about it a lot. I think that I would like to see it - if you two don't mind, of course,” Cas interjected, looking between Dean and Charlie to gauge their thoughts on the movie choice. Ash looked at Cas and then Charlie, shrugged and then slumped down further onto the sofa, nestling into the plump cushions.

“Okay, so Ash... Doesn't care. I count that as a yes, bitches! So, Dean?” Dean gave a lazy nod as Cas looked at him hopefully. Charlie twirled around on her toes and slid over to the TV unit, where piles upon piles of DVDs were stacked into the drawers. She flicked through them and sought out 'The Winter Soldier' which lay in the second row down, underneath 'Divergent'. She closed the drawer and pulled open the door of a central cabinet that was hiding the DVD player, and pressed her finger to the 'on' button, followed by the 'eject' button. Opening the case, she emptied its contents and slipped the disc into the DVD player and closed the slot over again.

“So, Cas,” Charlie began. “What kind of movies are you into, scrub?” Cas tilted his head very slightly to the side and squinted his eyes in thought, thinking back to the films his parents had actually allowed him to watch.

“I, uhh – I'm not really _into_ any type of film. My parents were very...” Cas paused, washing the sentence around in his mouth, considering the word he wanted to use. “They were very straightforward. Disciplinary. They didn't care much for luxuries like films and television. Before I moved to Lawrence, I only watched a few films, and they were all very pro-religion.”

“Dude, sounds harsh! Well, that's what you got us for, kiddo. We'll have you pop-cultured up in no time.”

* * *

A little more than halfway through the movie, Charlie decided to see if she could progress with her matchmaking before she was too drunk to do anything sensible later. She glanced over at Cas and Dean, checking how close they were to each other. She was not disappointed. Dean was sitting cross-legged, with Cas's legs draped over his as he sat sideways on the sofa. Charlie smirked and directed a stare at Dean.

He didn't take notice of her until a good few minutes later, by which time Charlie was close to giving up, because missing 'The Winter Soldier' for this was seriously not worth being ignored for. When he finally looked over, she rolled her eyes at him and mouthed 'about time' at him before sighing. Dean raised his eyebrows, silently asking 'what do you want?' to her. Charlie pulled her phone out of her pocket and turned the brightness down as far as it would go and tapped at the screen a little before locking it again. Dean felt a dull buzz in his pocket and wiggled his phone out, the screen lit up with a notification. He slid the notification banner across the screen, unlocking his phone to read the message:

**from: Charlie  
** **Dude, come on.**

He read over the short text a few times before tapping in a reply and sending it back:

**from: Dean  
** **What? I didn't do anything**

**from: Charlie  
** **Exactly u asshat. /Do/ something. He's literally all over you**

**from: Dean  
** **No. It's not happening u poo**

**from: Charlie  
** **ur choice, Winchester. But I'll be drunk later sooooooo**

**from: Dean  
** **don't you dare, you shit.**

 


End file.
